COVID-19

March 2025  will be five years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. We will mark the anniversary by sharing your memories of spring 2020 and the months that followed or thoughts on the impact that you still see today.

Early learning offerings by informed staff and programs extended from the height of the pandemic can help all young children thrive.

Children often turn to stories to make sense of the world, so books addressing COVID-19 can help them better understand their own experiences. Not only are these 12 titles relevant to contemporary readers, they paint a valuable picture of this historic event for future generations and will stand the test of time.

Elements of collaboration, relationship building, and creativity in the game world help shore up those strengths in the real world, including for kids whose SEL skills were dulled by pandemic-induced social isolation.

Schools respond to the dip in reading scores with more tutoring and summer school programs; new reading curriculum; additional co-teachers and reading specialists in the classroom.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress released its fourth- and eighth-grade assessment on Monday, showing a three-point decline in reading scores from 2019 testing. 

The National Center for Education Statistics study of COVID's effect revealed a significant drop in reading and math scores for 9-year-olds. Lower-performing students saw the steepest decline.

Read about a book donation project for students in Uvalde, TX; a plea to Congress from the education community; News Literacy Project's educator and student of the year; and IMLS research on public libraries during the pandemic in this edition of News Bites.

Betsy Bird reflects on the international publishing market via the Bologna Children's Book Fair.